Outdoor Adventures

A while back I wrote a post about the seasons but today I will write a post about how there are so many ways to experience the outdoors with other senses. I think I will start with smell. There are many bad smells that can become too much sometimes. They can be: exhaust fumes from cars and other such transportation. Garbage smells in some cities can also be overwhelming to the nose. Despite these disgusting scents though there can be beautiful smells such as the clean scent of ozone after it rains. If you are near trees you can also smell the scent of growing things. Trees, bushes, flowers, brambles, and almost anything that grows outside has such different smells and it can also be relaxing. Just walking threw a forrest brings so many experiences. You can smell all the growing things and maybe even be able to tell the difference between them. If you are walking on a dirt trail you may be able to hear small dead leaves and twigs snap beneath your feet. You can touch all the different plants just be careful of poison ivy and poison oak. Some plants are sharp and others are so soft and fragile. You may also be able to hear a stream, creek , or river depending where you are walking. You can listen to how the water flows over the rocks and other debris that may be in it. If you wanted to you can also throw a rock to skip it over the water and listen to each splash. Lets say you are actually on the water. Many things that you can tell are the bobbing of the boat and even the smell of the water. You can tell if the water is flowing fast or slow and maybe you will even fall asleep. If you put your hand in the water you can tell if its cold or warm and if its warm maybe you can find out if its fed by an underwater source. Now lets say you are in a boat and you are fishing. You can feel the pole in your hand and feel if you catch something from the tug of the line. When you get the fish out of the water you can feel the weight of the fish and the strangeness of its scales. Once you pull the hook out of it you can toss the fish back and let it live another day. Maybe you want to climb a tree you will smell the bark and maybe even sap if the tree has it. You can feel the bark against your hands and tell weather or not its soft from earlier rain or its dry and hard from a drought. Maybe you will even scrape your self on the bark. Well maybe its not a good idea to climb the tree without climbing gear. What if while you are exploring the forrest you hear animals. You can probably hear squirrels, birds , and other small animals. If you want maybe you can even find out what some of the birds are and tell just by there call. You may be able to hear deer moving around but this one is very difficult because they are very quiet and most of the time you may only be able to see them. Lets think of other weather elements that can make our senses have different experiences. If there is a light rain you may just hear a pitter patter on the leaves above you. If there is a harsher rain though maybe you should leave the forrest. There are many bad things that can happen in a forest when there is a storm. Old large trees can fall over from the wind, the river may flood, and there can also be mud slides. So even in this beautiful environment there can be beautiful destruction that can pave the way for new growth. What if you are walking in snow. The snow can be cold but also refreshing. You may be able to feel the snow flakes fall on your face and hands. The smell of ozone is also strong with snow. You may be able to hear the crunch of ice beneath your shoes. There are so many ways to experience the world with other senses other than sight. How do you experience the world with other senses

Personal Space...

Google defines personal space as a noun. The definition is: the physical space immediately surrounding someone, into which any encroachment feels threatening to or uncomfortable for them. Normal people respect this understanding most of the time. There are many situations where personal space is not respected. Sometimes this can be do to violence or just plain accidental. Which ever this might be most people do not think of just violating someones personal space. Now I want you to think of what you would do if you saw a disabled person minding their own business walking or going in their wheelchair to some destination. If it looks like that disabled person needs help would you go over and ask if they need help. Or would you just assume and grab them to steer them where you think they want to go. This is what most of society does actually. they see a disabled person and assume they can help and so they do. This is an extreme violation of personal space. You may not think so as the helper but just think for a moment. Would you like some random person coming up to you and grabbing your arm or wheelchair. How does the disabled person know that you are trying to help them not hurt them. THEY DO NOT!!! Why does society constantly think that they can just grab someone to help them. This is very very wrong. the right way to approach someone with a disability is to walk with in a few feet and ask if they need help with something. If you are on a bus, train, or subway maybe this is not possible but you should not just drag the disabled person to where you think they are going. Most of the time you will actually be wrong and can cause safety problems without realizing it. If you grab a blind person they may not see that you are pulling them towards a drop off and they will trip and all that is your fault. If you just start pushing a wheelchair in a direction where you think they want to go you can actually cause the chair to malfunction. you do not know how that specific chair may work for the individual person. It may cost thousands of dollars for that chair to help that person. With one disrespectful gesture and violation of personal space you have damaged that chair. Now how will that person who uses it get around safely and afford a replacement. If you simply ask if the disabled person needs help and they say yes they will most likely direct you how to help them and where they are going.If the disabled person says no they do not need help then do not force help on them they know what they are doing. People with disabilities are people too and they should have the same rights to personal space as any other person. 

Dreamers

We dream while we are asleep. we dream while we are a wake. The dreams that we have while we are asleep are pictures are mind comes up with. Sometimes it can be similar to what we did during the day but other times it can be something we have to remember to do. Even other times a small few of us have dreams that tell us a little bit about the future. Dreams can also be things that we want to do in life and set as a goal. some of those dreams are just dreams though that no matter how hard we want to do them it never comes to be. Each and every one of us have a dream. Some dreams can be simple like finally getting to cleaning the garage or organizing the house better. Dreams do not always have to be simple though they can be almost an impossibility. Some large dreams can be becoming a motivational speaker in the community, earning a college degree, or even creating a group of people that go out and help the less fortunate. We are all dreamers in one way or another. We can dream small or dream big but as long as we have a dream we have a goal to do something. Even the disabled community have dreams that they want to accomplish one day. It may take them a little longer to complete their dreams and they may have more challenges but they will get to completing their dream. Just because someone looks like they cannot complete their dream does not mean they are unable to . There is no need to put someone down just because you do not think their dream is a good one or you think it is too impossible for them to complete. we all need a group of people or even just one friend that will cheer us on towards our dream. those people can also participate along side us with our dream. Dreams are important to have because it is a goal that someone may have. they can also be something just to think about while life goes on around us. Our dreams may not turn out the way we imagined but that does not matter. Just think of it as an accomplishment because the dream was fulfilled. Not everyone just has one dream though. Some people may have multiple dreams that are interconnected or even not related. It is great to have multiple dreams because once one is completed there is another to think of. the effort put into a dream does not have to be tiresome it can be enjoyable because the thought of getting closer to completing the dream is the best feeling in the world. While completing a dream we can meet other people along the way that have the same dream and will help getting yours completed. We may also just meet good people along the journey and make life long friends that will be by our side forever. the best thing to do while going on the journey to complete a dream is do not push people away that are willing to help. That person could be the person that helps you complete that dream or can help you with a different dream you did not even know you had. Life will pull us in different directions so one dream may change into another. this is not a bad thing because we could learn to experience things in a different way then we ever thought. the new dream may even feel better to have then something that we dreamt of before. the new dream may have more meaning to us then the one before. What is your dream? What kind of a journey do you have to insertion point at end Use t

Daily Life

Our lives are filled with daily chores and responsibilities. Some of us have children to take care of, some of us have pets to take care of, and others have jobs to go to. Everyone needs something though to just relax and enjoy. That may b going outside for a walk, it may be staying outside to garden, or it could be many other things. Someone may enjoy using good smelling lotions, perfumes, or other skin care products. Some people may even do a workout to feel good about theirselves. Yoga is a good option or maybe rock climbing. Some may enjoy swimming or running or even hiking. With the daily tasks of life everyone needs something that they can look forward to doing and enjoying. Lives can also become boring and repetitive. People need freedom time away from daily activities. A vacation, a date night with a partner or friend, a day at the spa, or even just taking a road trip can change the boredom of regular lives. People need to know how to relax and take time out of their lives to do something different and maybe even exciting. We are all human beings that get used to doing the same thing over and over without a change. Some of us need change so we do not get into boredom and start getting angry with life. this may even be a good way not to get depressed with the way life may be going at the time. Starting a group that meets every so often, signing up for a race with some friends, or even starting a volunteer position are good options to have something to look forward to. Doing things like this nay also help build better friendships with people that will be their when you least expect it. Friendships are one of the best things in life and if we do not have some we will most likely have a harder time with life. Friends can help with just wanting someone to talk to about how good a recipe is, talk to about what new movie is coming out and they want to see, talk to about the best way to find clothing stores, or friends can just be their to vent to. We all need activities to do to keep life enjoyable and having good friends will really help with this. I hope you can find something you enjoy to do for yourself. What kinds of interesting activities do you do to keep enjoying life?

 

Blind Technology

.There has been a meme going around lately that shows a blind person holding a white cane and a cell phone. The caption says something like what is wrong with this picture.I went blind almost 5 years ago and before I went blind I would have wondered how the person used their phone. I would not have been mad because the cane shows the person is blind and cannot use a phone. Blind people use their phone because now the phones can talk with a screen reader or even use some other kind of accessibility. Blind people are not as helpless or clueless as most of the general community thinks. Blind people can use a phone, a computer, a stove, and almost anything a visual person can use. There are blind people who take care of their own children without visual help. There are blind people who take care of their own selves and their pets. There are blind people who travel the world without assistance. I do not understand how a simple picture can make so much of a fuss with visual people. Maybe I can understand though because I have actually had a few people take my phone out of my hand and yell at me your phone is off. I keep what is called a screen curtain on because the brightness of my phone will hurt my eyes after using it for awhile. Technology is apart of most blind people's lives because without it some stuff will be difficult. There are apps that help us tell what color something is. There are apps that can help blind people tell what a food is by scanning the bar code. There are apps that can tell a blind person what a peice of clothing is by taking a picture of it and describing it. There are even apps that can scan a document and read it out to the blind person. Blind people even play games on their phones because they are based on sound. There are so many advancements in this world with technology so why do people still think that if someone is blind that person is unable to do anything. Visual people carry their phones with them all the time so why can't a blind person figure out how to use a phone. This world can be so ignorant and unwilling to learn when it comes to something they think is impossible. Just because a visual person cannot imagine doing something does not mean someone else is not doing it at that moment. Some people were not even born blind so they had to go threw the difficulty of re learning how to live being blind. I want to make a challenge to any perfectly sighted person reading this post that next time you may meet a blind person ask them how their day is going. Also have a real conversation with them because they are human beings too. I would advice though do not bring up how amazing they are for doing daily tasks you do everyday. Blindness has become normal to them so doing what they do on a daily bases is just the way they live. O by the way I made this blog post on my phone with a bluetooth keyboard. 

A New Year.....

Well, this is another year for us all. this is another year to have love and another year to have friendships. this is another year to enjoy life with all of its trials and tribulations. this is another year to be strong and face challenges head on. This is another year to fall down, but get back up. Last year was troublesome for me,but also great because I got my beautiful guide dog Greyson. This year will be my year. I will focus on myself and my partnership with Greyson. this year I will do my best to get in the job field and even get back to Jiu Jitsu. I was not able to continue it because I made a mistake that took me out of it. I do not regret that mistake though because I got to make it and learn from it. This year I will walk many miles with my boy Greyson and if someone wants to join me they have to keep up. I know there are many people out there who will make resolutions and most likely not keep them threw out the entire year. Some of those resolutions could be losing weight, getting a better job, or even having good friends to depend on. Make this year your year and keep those resolutions and if you need help find someone else who has the same resolution and do it with them. this year has just begun so don't give up yet. Some of us may even find that someone who will stay at our side forever. Some of us may have the most heart ache pain that is almost unbearable. Some of us will fall into a hole that seems endless. Some of us may have a child that will give us the most joy we will ever experience in our lives. This is another year for anything to happen. Make your choices, face your challenges head on, stand up when you fall, and always remember to be who you are and don't let someone else tell you different. If a new experience comes up try it, it may open new doors for you. If you are a reader read as many books as you can and take new genre suggestions. If you are a writer write as many poems, short stories, or even blog posts that you can think of. If you are a runner run as many miles as you can. If you are a singer sing as many songs as you can. Don't say I can't do it that will only make your year terrible.this is another year to do your best and to see how strong you can be. How will you make this year yours?